Cuckoo Marans lay dark brown eggs, the color of a Hershey’s bar. Despite the fact that the eggs don’t actually taste like chocolate, they’re very pretty, and a good enough reason to have a Cuckoo Marans in your small flock. But, I’m discovering that there’s an even better reason to put this chicken on your list of breeds to have one day – what a wonderful personality!

I’m keeping one Cuckoo Marans, (the other has gone to the nursing home) and I’ve named her Veronica, after a story-telling hippo in a favorite book. Like her namesake, she’s a talker. Veronica chatters in a low, bup-bup-bup voice. She follows me around, constantly commenting on her world. What I really like about this chicken is that she is calm and yet out-going. When the chicks were two weeks old she was one of the first to try the baby roost.

At a month old she ventured higher up the big girls’ roost than anyone else.

And now, at 2 1/2 month of age, she is confident and yet not bossy to others in the flock. Veronica is the only pullet not intimidated by Edwina and even eats near that Grande Dame hen. And yet I’ve never seen Veronica challenge Edwina or any other chicken. So, Veronica is proving, early on, to be a personable, even-keeled leader, something that all flocks (and societies) should have in their midst.

The window box on the porch outside of my office is thriving. This is the first year that I’ve planted a hanging cherry tomato plant and I’m looking forward to snacks while working!

There’s a lot of bird life in the front yard. I frequently see bluebirds, and a hawk perches in a neighbor’s pine. The other day, though, I saw more activity than usual. I stopped writing and stepped onto the porch. A robin yelled at me and flew at my head. I hurried back inside. Robins were building a nest between the petunias and the tomato plant.

After several hours their beautiful home was finished.

However, once all of the work was done, the robins looked around and decided that they didn’t like their new neighbor. She had been there throughout construction, but somehow the robins had overlooked her presence. Lily had ignored all of the construction hubbub, but she was still gauged by the robins to have brought down the value of the neighborhood. All of their work was for naught. They decided to relocate. As they say in the real estate business, it’s all about “location, location, location.”

Now that Mr. Grumpy and his girl have gone to their new home, and the five friendliest and most easy-going hens are at the nursing home, it’s become clear that my remaining six pullets are an active and rowdy bunch. Talk to an experienced grade school teacher, and she’ll tell you that every few years a group of kids comes along and the classroom takes on an energized personality. My son was in such a class once. It was filled with competitive sports kids and hyper-focused learners. The teacher, who was a nice laid-back man and folksinger during the summers, tried to teach the fourth graders how to self-calm through meditation, but to no avail. I feel that way about my six new pullets. They all have great personalities, which somehow, all together, become amplified.

I’ve named them and identified each breed on the who’s who page. It will be interesting to see how the social structure settles out. So far, Edwina, the grande dame of the coop, is maintaining her top hen status. Despite age and arthritis, I’m sure that will not change, as her attitude is as domineering as ever. It’s all in the mind.

Tillie Lays an Egg was inspired by a diminutive Bantam White Leghorn named Snowball. She was friendly and an independent thinker, and I enjoyed having her around so much that I got three more Bantam White Leghorns, Coco, Eggers and Betsy Ross. They were charming birds, but none with the spunk of Snowball. Betsy, however, was a great school visit hen until her retirement last year.

I’ve heard very good things about full-sized Leghorns, and so ordered two white and two brown in the batch from McMurray. It was clear from the first week that these were speedy chickens, with places to go and things to do that did not include me. They did not act like the bantams that I knew and loved. Still, I decided to keep one, if only to have a bright white bird with a brilliant red floppy comb in the flock. I’ve named her Twiggy, as she is stylish, leggy and lean. At only 9 weeks of age, Twiggy already dwarfs Betsy.

Betsy is fascinated by another white chicken. We’ll have to wait and see how this relationship develops. So far, it’s been one-sided. Twiggy has no interest in  getting to know the older generation.

It’s simple. They make me happy.